1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an in-vehicle apparatus that has a handsfree communication function and that is connectable with a cellular phone by simultaneously using handsfree communication protocol for handsfree communication and a mail forwarding protocol for mail forwarding. The present invention also relates to a cellular phone that is connectable with an in-vehicle apparatus having a handsfree communication function by simultaneously using a handsfree communication protocol and a mail forwarding protocol.
2. Description of Related Art
Applications of a cellular phone in a vehicle compartment include handsfree communications. When a cellular phone supporting a Bluetooth (registered trademark) (referred to hereinafter as BT) communication function is carried into a vehicle compartment of a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle apparatus supporting a BT communication function, the connection is established between the cellular phone and the in-vehicle apparatus by using a handsfree profile (HFP) for handsfree communications defined in BT communications standards (see JP-2002-223288A for example).
In this relation, a message access profile (MAP) for mail forwarding defined in the BT communications standards is under consideration as being a profile for notifying an in-vehicle apparatus that an incoming mail is received by a cellular phone carried into a vehicle compartment, so that a user can be informed that the cellular phone receives the incoming mail.
By the way, when the cellular phone and the in-vehicle apparatus have therebetween the connection using the HFP, a user can perform communications in one of two modes: handset communications where a user uses a microphone and a speaker of the cellular phone to perform communications; and handsfree communications where a user uses a microphone and a speaker of the in-vehicle apparatus side to perform communications. It is likely that a user who is not driving (stopped or parked) may select the handset communications and a user who is driving may select the handsfree communications.
The applicant has studied a configuration for connecting the in-vehicle apparatus and the cellular phone by simultaneously using the HFP and the MAP, so that when a user is performing communications in one of the handset communication and the handsfree communication, a user can be informed from the in-vehicle apparatus that an incoming mail is received by the cellular phone. In relation to this, when a user is performing the handset communications, it is likely that the user is not driving, and thus, no trouble arises when a user is informed from the in-vehicle apparatus that an incoming mail is received by the cellular phone. In contrast, when a user is performing the handsfree communication, it is likely that the user is driving. In this case, if the reception of an incoming mail in the cellular phone is informed to the user from the in-vehicle apparatus, it may make the user, a user who is driving a vehicle, aware of the reception of an incoming mail, and may reduce driver distractions and may bring an undesirable situation.